Student Work
Senior David Levering was inspired to study paleontology as a kid growing up in Salem, but it was the diverse and concentrated array of fossil remains John Day Fossil Beds National Monument that made him head for the UO. “I didn’t want to go far from home,” Levering says. “And Oregon offers great field classes.”
For his senior research project, Levering looked at how mammal forelimbs evolved at different rates than mammal hindlimbs. He is also studying how organisms adapt to climate changes in similar ways.
Levering also co-founded the Geology Club and is its current president. He recently set up a “what to do with your degree” seminar and had the largest turnout of any meeting in the club’s history. “I hope more people get involved in the program,” Levering says. “It’s a great place to be.”
“I’m definitely in the right place,” says senior Richard Bykowski. “I was debating which school to attend until I got a letter from Dana Johnston [the geology’s program’s department head], which helped give me the final push toward Oregon.”
For his senior project, Bykowski is studying the evolution of Triceratops and is challenging the standard idea that Triceratops evolved from bison. With his research on limb proportions, he is questioning the accepted theory with new information that says Triceratops may have evolved from the hippo.
Bykowski is also a member of the Geology Club and last year helped the club donate geology teaching kits to local high school and middle schools. He hopes to help kids become interested in learning about the Earth.
His own interest was piqued at a young age. “I used to watch It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, and always wondered why Charlie was upset with the gift of a bag of rocks.” Bykowski says. “I always thought that would be a great thing to get.”
Selected Faculty Work
Professor Eugene Humphreys’s area of expertise is in seismology and regional tectonics. His research interests are in tectonic and magmatic processes active in the western U.S. He was recently elected a Fellow of the American Geophysical Union, an honor that reflects Humphreys’ contributions to the understanding of the tectonics of the western U.S., and his years-long efforts on the recently launched research initiative, Earthscope.
Professor Mark Reed has spent the past several years on an National Science Foundation-supported study of hydrothermal alteration and fluid inclusions in the Butte, Montana porphyry copper system.
Assistant Professor Josh Roering’s area of focus is geomorphology and surficial processes. His research interests include landscape evolution, landslides, and quantitative geomorphology. He conducts field research in New Zealand and the Oregon coast range.
Professor Douglas Toomey is winding down the three year seismic experiment he and graduate student Darwin Villagomez have been running in the Galapagos Islands. Their study is aimed at imaging the mantle plume responsible for hotspot volcanoes. They recovered the seismometers last spring and are now fully engaged in analyzing the data.
Professor Rebecca Dorsey’s research is focused in the sub-discipline of sedimentation and tectonics, with emphasis on field studies of tectonically active sedimentary basins. Most recently she has been working on basins of active extensional and strike-slip settings in Mexico and southern California.
Career Prospects
Students who graduate with a major in geological sciences can find jobs as laboratory technicians, field assistants, junior geologists, or geophysicists. “What’s more,” says department head Dana Johnston, “positions come up from time to time with state and U.S. geological surveys and with various environmental consulting firms and engineering firms. We have a record of placing students in strong graduate programs if they want to go on.”
In addition, graduates with bachelor’s degrees can qualify for positions as laboratory technicians or field assistants,
as well as for positions as junior geologists or geophysicists.